Posted on 03/17/2006 6:37:49 AM PST by 300magnum
HARTSVILLE, S.C. - Had Tonya Dixon realized the man living across the street was a convicted sex offender, she says she would never have moved with her family to a mobile home in a quiet, isolated neighborhood.
Officers, bloodhounds and helicopters continued searching Thursday for 47-year-old Kenneth Glenn Hinson, who is wanted in connection with the rape of two teenage girls in an underground room behind his home.
Dixon, who moved to the neighborhood about two weeks ago, searched her computer after news of the assaults spread and found Hinson's mug shot on the state's sexual predator list.
"They need a big ol' sign in the yard letting people know," said Dixon, 29, who has three young children.
The two 17-year-olds were abducted and assaulted in a room under a shed on Hinson's property, Darlington County Chief Deputy Tom Gainey said. The girls were left bound but managed to free themselves. Gainey said they were able to open the trap door in the floor and kick down the shed's door.
The state attorney general's office said Hinson had been recommended for the state's sexually violent predator program, but was rejected during the screening process.
Hinson was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl in 1991. Just before his release from prison in 2000, a review committee recommended he be committed indefinitely to a Department of Mental Health facility for treatment, said Trey Walker, a spokesman for the attorney general's office. But a circuit judge later ruled that prosecutors failed to show Hinson would likely offend again.
"We thought then that the judge made a mistake," Attorney General Henry McMaster said Friday on "Good Morning America." "I think events, if all this is true that we hear today, it appears that the man should have gone into the system, certainly."
Hinson, wanted on kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct charges, is thought to have been spotted near the Darlington-Chesterfield county line in the state's northeast corner late Wednesday, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Tim Stec. Authorities said there were several reported sightings but none were confirmed, and believe he is still in the area.
The rural road leading to Hinson's home outside Hartsville is lined with mobile homes, many of them with bikes and toys lying in the yards. The neighborhood, which one resident described as "one big family," is about 20 miles northwest of Florence where busy Interstate 95 meets Interstate 20.
Argeree Cooks, who lives with her four grandchildren down the street from Hinson's home, was worried. Her family also did not know Hinson was a sex offender, she said.
"Why couldn't they tell us?" she said. "We have seen him. They need to tell people these things."
When are we going to start holding these idiotic liberal judges as being the ones responsible for releasing scum back on our streets?
They should have named the judge in the story. This one is on him.
Civil suits for huge damage claims should be filed by the parents against the judge along with a massive PR campaign to get the public onboard. If the suit is denied because "you can't sue the judge", the public will ask why not and be ripe for change.
He should not have been walking the streets in the first place. Thank you liberal judges and PC socialist idiots who think prison is for rehabilitation, not punishment.
sick
I really don't like the idea of being able to sue a judge over a case. Are there huge abuses by some judges? Yes. But being able to sue over any case a judge decided on would ruin the concept of judicial independence in this country. Every judge would end up worrying more about what covers his @$% the most and not what the correct ruling is. You'd be opening some cans of worms you really wouldn't want to open.
To this judge, it was just another file jacket on his desk, most likely. They typically do not take such matters very seriously since liberal appeals court judges appointed over the past 30 years will reverse rulings that actually do justice.
If the families of victims could sue judges and parole board members, even in limited circumstances, these folks would view their jobs quite differently.
Summarily executed. With a rusty electric cheese grater.
Megan's law wasn't created by the legal community. It was created by the victims of sexual predators, and the parents of murdered and abused children who fought for it's enactment.
Support the passage of Jessica's Law in your state. 25 years first offense.
Until "We the People" hold these judges personally and legally responsible.
Agreed. But first lock him in a basement in East LA and let a few dozen brothers run a train on him.
When do we realize that these types of perps seem to be unsalvagable? I don't get why they are EVER back out after an actual rape. Period. And I don't care if it was a child or an old woman, or whoever. If someone is driven to do this crime even once, clearly something is way wrong in his head, and the rest of society should be protected from him.
Sheesh, that makes me so angry!
susie
I think we already have a very nasty can of worms that we would like to close back up.
susie
No, that is exactly the can of worms I want to open. The judiciary acts without consequence and is answerable to no one right now. When that judge acted he placed society at risk. If his actions can be shown to be negligent, he should be held accountable. The same for parole boards who release criminals into society. If they think their ass would be on the line for releasing that individual, what right have they to put our ass on the line instead? You can't tell me that judge would have been willing to live next to this dude and place his teenage daughter at risk. No, but it is perfectly fine to turn him loose on some other poor unsuspecting suckers.
If I really had my way, that judge would be sitting as a co-defendent at the criminal trial of this scum bag!
----When people can't trust the government to enact justice, there are only a few venues of recourse-----
very true
Then they need to be impeached in cases such as these.
That's one good thing about electing Judges. Here in Houston we just kicked out a judge, Gary Michael Block that allegedly held a young female prosecutor in his chambers for two hours, mashing on her and groping. She didn't go after him too hard, figuring he would retire since she did take it to the County Attorney. Then he filed for reelection and she let him have it with both barrels.
You are so right. Why isnt he named? But a circuit judge later ruled that prosecutors failed to show Hinson would likely offend again. I read story after story about judges letting these monsters out again to repeat their crimes and my blood boils. The fact is nobody can be certain he would not offend again. The truth is they usually do repeat. The victims are scarred for life and get no justice. I dont know what the answer is short of hanging them which sounds good to me or putting them in general prison population and letting the other imates give them a dose of their kind of justice. I really like that idea. But I've been told how wrong that is too. I just see more of this happening and more victims and I hope to God that somebody does something to stop these monsters and that they get the justice they deserve.
Listen up!
The judges are applying the law.
The law is written by the People, acting through their representatives.
It's the frickin' LAW that is the problem, not the judges!
We know enough now to isolate these people immediately upon diagnosis.
Why we don't do it, I cannot comprehend.
If the People, acting through their representatives, gave the judges proper instructions, this would not be a problem. Let's get at it.
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